-The species diversity and community structure of trap-nesting bees in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in Southern Brazil was studied during 2 years. Three different habitats (Araucaria forest, swamp and grassland) were investigated in terms of abundance, richness, diversity and similarity of bee communicites. A total of 120 nests of 11 species were collected. The largest abundance of individuals and species richness was found for the family Megachilidae. The most abundant species were Centris tarsata, Megachile brasiliensis and Colletes sp. Intermediate species were C. tarsata, M. brasiliensis, Colletes sp, Epanthidium nectarinioides, Megachile (Dactylomegachile) sp 1, Anthodioctes claudii, Megachile sp 1 and Megachile sp 2 . Megachile (Austramegamegachile) fiebrigi, Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) augusti and Megachile (Moureapis) sp 1 were the rare species. Swamp habitat yielded the greatest abundance and diversity of bee species. The similarity between this habitat and grassland, in relation to their species abundance and also to their species presence-absence, was the greatest.solitary bees / community / biocenosis / species diversity / trap-nest / Apoidea

 Abstract Buschini, M.L.T. and Woiski, T.D. 2008. Alpha-beta diversity in trap-nesting wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in Southern Brazil. -Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 89 : 351-358This study was carried out at the Parque Municipal das Araucárias, in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, southern Brazil. The aims of the present study were to access the spectrum of wasp species inhabiting trap-nests in three habitats, to record their richness and diversity and elucidate the process responsible for their composition and abundance and to investigate if there is difference in their diversity between Brazilian tropical and subtropical regions. A total of 1097 nests, belonging to 21 species of solitary wasps, were collected. Of these, nine belonged to the family Vespidae (42.86%), six to Pompilidae (28.57%), four to Crabronidae (19.05%) and two to Sphecidae (9.52%). Crabronidae was the most abundant family in the samplings, with a total of 927 collected nests (84.3%). The environment that presented the greatest species diversity, richness and evenness was the grassland areas. Using the Bray-Curtis coefficient (beta diversity), the greatest similarity, in relation to species abundance, occurred between swamp and grasslands. In contrast, the araucaria forest was the habitat with the greatest dissimilarity, a result corroborated by the correspondence analysis.

Hymenopterans have become a model for the study of factors that govern sex allocation. In 1983, Seger proposed a model to study Sphecidae wasps with a strong prediction that sex ratio for univoltine wasps should be 1 : 1 (female : male), and for partially bivoltine species it should be malebiased. The present study investigates if Trypoxylon lactitarse (Saussure, 1867) is a univoltine or a bivoltine species and if Seger's model prediction fits the pattern of sex ratio found in this species. The study was carried out at Parque Municipal das Arauca´rias, in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Parana´, southern Brazil, from December 2001 to December 2004. Nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests drilled longitudinally to a depth to 80 mm with 7.0, 10.0 and 13.0 mm opening diameter. They were placed in a very heterogeneous site filled with araucaria forests, swamps and grasslands. Trypoxylon lactitarse showed two alternative life histories: either they pupated immediately and emerged as adults later in the same season (direct development), or they entered diapause, overwintering and pupating the following spring (delayed development). Its annual sex ratios were not significantly different from 1 : 1, and both sex ratio of overwintering and sex ratio of direct-developing wasps were also not significantly different from 1 : 1, in all years of this study. By examining these results, it was possible to conclude that although T. lactitarse is a multivoltine species, with four generations per year and two alternative life histories, its sex ratio did not support Seger's model.

A total of 67 nests of Centris tarsata were obtained from wood trap-nests of different diameters, consisting of a linear series of brood cells built with sand mixed with oil. This species showed a preference for open habitats, since it occurred only in Swamp and Grassland areas and has never been found in the Araucaria forest. Nesting activity was bigger during the hot season, especially in December and January. The Sex ratio was of 1.48:1 (females/males), significantly different from 1:1. The females were larger than the males and these showed no dimorphism. Males were produced in the outermost cells and females in the innermost cells. C. tarsata presented a direct development without diapause in larval stage. They overwinter as adults. Development time was similar for males and females. Natural enemies are Bombyliidae Mesocheira bicolor, Coelioxys sp. and Meloidae.

The most common infections in human beings are caused by intestinal parasites. They can lead to a number of harmful effects, which could include, among others, intestinal obstruction, malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, diarrhea, and poor absorption. In Brazil, enteroparasites are one of the main public health issues. The present study aims at analyzing the distribution and frequency of enteroparasite occurrence in 635 children from seven community schools in the city of Guarapuava, Paraná (PR). In addition, we used similarity and diversity indices to analyze the parasite community. We found 475 samples with at least one parasite showing that 75.27% of children had enteroparasites. A smaller fraction (26.73%) of children harbored several parasites (multiparasitism), especially Giardia duodenalis (56%), and Ascaris lumbricoides (18%). Statistical analysis showed that three (out of seven) children communities had higher similarity in frequency and amount of parasites. Our results suggest that the children studied were highly infected by enteroparasites. These levels of infestation could be related to several factors, such as climate, social and economic conditions and characteristics of the parasites.

This study was carried in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in the municipality of Guarapuava, state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. Three hundred and sixty five nests of T. lactitarse were obtained using trap-nests of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.3 cm in diameter. All of them had similar architecture, regardless of the diameter of the trap-nest. Completed nests consisted of a linear series of brood cells whose average number per nest was of 3.3, 4.0 and 3.6 for the nests with 0.7 cm, 1.0 cm and 1.3 cm in diameter, respectively. They were constructed more often during the summer. T. lactitarse had two types of life cycles: direct development (without diapause), and delayed development (with diapause during winter). Natural enemies included Chrysididae, Sarcophagidae, Dolichopodidae and Ichneumonidae. Out of 1,353 identified spider prey, 1,313 belonged to the Araneidae family.

Buschini, M.L.T. and Fajardo, S. 2010. Biology of the solitary wasp Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) agamemnon Richards 1934 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in trapnests. -Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 91: 426-432.Some Trypoxylon species build their nests in preexisting tubular cavities like hollow stems and beetle borings in branches. Study of the biology of these insects is relatively easy because the females of these wasps nest with enormous success in trap-nests. The aim of this study was to investigate the abundance, seasonality and life-history of Trypoxylon agamemnon. For capture of these insects, trap-nests were installed in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias in araucaria forest, grassland and swamp, from December, 2001 to December, 2005. Two hundred and ninety seven nests were obtained. They were constructed more often during the summer (from December to April). The nests were built only in araucaria forest and consisted of a linear series of cells, divided by mud partitions, whose number varied from 1 to 7. Normally they have only one vestibular cell. The inner cells had been provisioned, usually with spiders of Anyphaenidae family. Sex-ratio was strongly female biased. Its main natural enemies included Chrysididae, Ichneumonidae and Tachinidae.

The genus Drosophila is the most abundant in the Drosophilidae family. some species are endemic to certain regions and others are cosmopolitans. in Brazil, there are several ecosystems to explore regarding the composition and ecological aspects of Drosophila. xerophytic areas are an example. They can be found in the south and southeast of Brazil as islands, a result of paleoclimatic cycle changes. The aim of the present work is to provide information about the composition of the Drosophila community in eight xerophytic areas (where the cactus Cereus hildmaniannus occurs) in the south and southeast of Brazil. This work is an important step in the study of quantitative ecological aspects of the Drosophila community in xerophytic areas that form continental islands in the neotropical region. The composition of the Drosophila community which was found is compatible with previous work in several aspects. The ecological indexes showed a possible positive association between diversity and the degree of preservation of the studied areas. são paulo state communities presented the highest similarity among the sites tested, although no statistical significant correlation between the Jaccard index and geographical distance was found using the mantel test. Keywords